History

NetherLight has been operational since January 2002 as a SONET/SDH cross connect and Gigabit Ethernet switching facility for high-performance access to participating networks.

Key results

The world’s first transatlantic lambda was set up at NetherLight by Teleglobe within the context of the GigaPort project. It connects NetherLight and StarLight in Chicago, the two locations that constitute the centre for next-generation, optical Internet research. The unique feature of this connection was and still is its complete transparency to the protocols to be used, allowing for unimpeded experiments.

Since 2002, NetherLight has been a crucial component in the field of international networking research and innovation.

• July 2011: SURFnet deploys 100 Gb/s over 1650 km between Amsterdam and Geneva
• October 2010: Successfully Complete Leading-Edge, Single Stream Demonstration in 40 Gbps
• December 2008: New speed record for storage using lightpaths

NetherLight has also been the primary exchange point for many other high-end international research projects:

• June 2010: SURFnet's DWDM system connects NetherLight to CERN (in Dutch)

About SURFnet

NetherLight is operated by SURFnet, the Netherlands’ national network organisation for higher education and research, within the context of the GigaPort project.

SURFnet also founded the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX). AMS-IX began as an initiative between researchers. The AMS-IX is one of the biggest exchanges for IP-traffic in the world. SURFnet aims to make NetherLight as successful for optical connections as AMS-IX is for IP.